At the end
by Lyrical Logic
Summary: All she had was pictures, all he had was memories. Both incomplete and unsatisfied. The last remnants of a horrific war standing there, together, at the end.


At the end

_At the end_

Sad fic

Here we go…

Summary: all she had was pictures, all he had was memories. Both incomplete and unsatisfied. Together, at the end.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except perhaps this plot.

Warnings: well there was MAJOR SPOILERS but not anymore. meh

* * *

_This is the clock upon the wall_

Shino…he knew he only had a few days left. The poison that had infected his system had lain dormant for years until it had started to viscously attack his kikai bugs, killing them one by one. It had been a horrifying experience. She ; she should know: she had been there…

_  
This is the story of us all_

Ino…had killed herself after entering the mind of a psychotic mass murder in an attempt to wring him for information concerning a secret organisation. She had been informed before hand about the dangers of this mission, and of course being her pig-headed self, had accepted. Unfortunately, her inflexibility had been what had gotten her killed. He would never forget how his blood had run cold seeing her on the morgue table, glassy blue eyes holding no trace of his former team mate and childhood friend…

_  
This is the first sound of a newborn child,_

Kurenai…died years ago in childbirth. She had come into labour on the field during a fight with some nuke-nin. She had only heard her child once before falling unconscious. It had been a fight for her life and just when they gave up hope, she woke up to apologise to her son. She never woke again…

_  
Before he starts to crawl_

Asuma… had predeceased his wife by months and had barely contemplated the meaning of the word father, when any chance to be with his wife and child had been ripped away.

_  
This is the war that's never won_

Neji… had thrown his life away for hers. The council had deemed her unworthy of the Hyuuga name and sentenced her to exile. In the middle of the trial Neji had stood up and pledged his allegiance to her with or without the clan. They had then activated the very seal she had abolished years ago, breaking all of her promises for a reformed Hyuuga. In fact, she had promised Neji himself that his blade wielding wife would be well looked after, guess she failed at that too…

_  
This is a soldier and his gun_

Kiba…had been mutilated beyond recognition by their own force. He had told him of the corruption happening behind closed doors and had paid for it with his own blood. Akamaru had been with him to the last moment, faithfully dying at his master's side…

_  
This is the mother waiting by the phone,_

Chouji…had been captured around six months ago. After starving and torturing him, they had shipped his body back to Konoha. It had been horrible to have his mother come see the body. She had promised herself then that if this happened again, she wouldn't breathe a word of it to anyone…

_  
Praying for her son  
_

Lee…he had seen him die and needed no reminders. He had once been told that red and green complemented each other, who ever said that needed to be gutted and hanged like the sick, twisted bastard they are. It wasn't long after that when Gai disappeared…

_Pictures of you, pictures of me_

Burying them had been hard. She had to give up some of the most important people to her. People who were the epitome of her most precious memories.

_  
Hung upon your wall for the world to see_

She had made a collage to represent the time the Konoha 12 spent together. It hung wall to wall in the hokage's office a giant reminder of some of the greatest ninja to ever come out of Konoha.

_  
Pictures of you, pictures of me_

Pictures of festivals, missions, parties from before and after Sasuke's defection all piled on the wall to make sure she didn't forget.

_  
Remind us all of what we used to be_

In her hands, she held a picture of her genin cell, the most recently taken one of the rookie nine and her favourite childhood photo containing her, Hanabi and Neji. All pictures of what she used to be.

_There is a drug that cures it all_

Sakura…had slowly been poisoned for a number of years. Always in small doses of different poisons so she couldn't become immune. After her death she had found a notebook containing lengthy descriptions of the poison's and there side affects. She had known that she was being used as a guinea pig and had, as always, put herself behind others…

_  
Blocked by the governmental wall_

Naruto… his death had kicked it off. The council had decided that he was a danger and had to be disposed. Needless to say, the konoha 12 and many other influential parties were against it; because of this the council had to go behind their backs and perform a ceremony that would allow a shinigami to take both his and Kyuubi's soul. For a price, of course. Unfortunately, the price was the blood of a thousand warriors…

_  
We are the scientists inside the lab,_

Kakashi… had been the longest of the jonin leaders to survive. He had perished pushing a civilian out of the way of some falling rocks. He took a little while to say goodbye. The last thing anyone saw of him was a happy upside down U smile as the rocks fell down…

_  
Just waiting for the call_

Sasuke… had returned mere weeks before. He was stripped of his power and made a civilian. Most days he waited for the call that would draw him into battle once more and when it came…. He committed seppeku after he saw his team mates and sensei die…

_  
This earthquake weather has got me shaking inside_

Gaara and Kankuro… had died in an ambush coming to their aid. She hadn't known them long and couldn't say much about how they lived or died, but she could say this. If a man cannot hear the sound of their babe, at least let him hear the sound of his kinsmen urging him forward…

_  
I'm high up and dry_

Temari…he could barely think of his wife's death. His troublesome wife who had died long before he had planned. No, that was a stupid thought. Any any planning he had done had been smashed the second he fought her years back at the chunnin exams…

_Pictures of you, pictures of me_

All those people had left him with a job and a duty.

_  
Hung upon your wall for the world to see_

His job was to ensure that this _never_ happened again.

His duty was to ensure that they never forgot.

He had reminded himself of this as he watched his wifes fan fly away on the wind.

_  
Pictures of you, pictures of me_

They had fought, died, loved and cherished one another till the very last moment. His only wish was that he could have told his wife how much he loved her and what it felt to lose her.

_  
Remind us all of what we used to be_

He looked around his room at the things from various stages in his life. From the old albums to her discarded ring lying on the dresser, he thought of how troublesome it was going to be clean it all up. At that moment, he decided that for as long as he lived he would never clean this room again.

_We are the boxers in the ring  
We are the bells that never sing  
There is a title we can't win no matter  
How hard we might swing_

The gates of Konoha ruined and melting into the sunset where the only remnants of this great society. There two people stood side by side at the edge of a ruined village, mourning there losses. They had the same pain the same anger and the same resolution.

To live

As the last survivor's of the great village of Konoha, Shikamaru and Hinata walked away from Konoha. At the end of it all, the only two left were the two everyone said would perish. They stepped away from the ruins and walked forward. Side by side at the end

* * *

AUTHOR RANT

I'm too tired to rant

Blah…

My beta is so screwed…

20 points to anyone who can tell me WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED and/or what the moral is. (yellow snow does not count)

BETA RANT

Advice? DO NOT READ WHILE LISTENING TO SWEENEY TODD.

You imagine Sasuke as the barber and Sakura as Miss Lovelett.

R&R pwease.


End file.
